


The Things that Matter in Life

by AnnieMiku



Category: Thomas Sanders, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gift, M/M, Secret Santa
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 04:32:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13263756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnnieMiku/pseuds/AnnieMiku
Summary: Virgil becomes Patton's foster kid.





	The Things that Matter in Life

**Author's Note:**

> Trigger warning: swearing, foster kid, kissing, absent parent, abuse mention 
> 
> (let me know if I missed anything)

Most of the time, Virgil could get away with being a “bad kid.” He was never really their kid to begin with; not biologically; not even permanently. Why should any of his foster parents care about anything he did. Most were in it for the paycheck anyway. As long as nothing got back to the agency his “parents” didn’t give a flying fuck what he did. The thing was, this time was different.

Virgil had been having careless daydreams. He had looked for shooting stars and had visions of holiday wishes. He had been hoping and praying and blowing dandelion fuzz. All Virgil truly wanted was to stay. Hell, he wanted to stay so bad he had been on his very best behavior, which was something quite out of the ordinary.

It was hard to want to stay. He wasn’t used to trying to be “good.” He was used to just being himself. Trying to be “good” was like trying to gain a new mindset. He really had only ever done what he felt like doing in life. It was like hit in the gut to realise doing what your impulses tell you to do. He had always felt like the whole society was full of uptight people trying to make him a problem. He truly hadn’t thought he was bad, that he was the problem, until someone told him he was, after all. He had felt morally sound before that.

Then he remembered he didn’t have the best track record; suspension, failing scores, low gpa, shoplifting, chain smoking, none of those things were the things “good people” had on there permanent records. Yes, some of the stuff was easy to fix. He was a smart kid and quickly got to B range and higher (especially because his new school was quite gracious). It was easy to quit stealing candy bars and skipping class, but some of the other stains on his reputation were harder to bleach out.

For instance, though Patton forbid it explicitly (in his own kind way, of course), Virgil could not quit smoking. It was one of the only rules Patton was ridged on and since Virgil liked Patton he had to comply.

So, Virgil tried nicorette and when that didn’t work he upgraded to patches. It was a no go, though. Smoking was a nasty habit and hard to shake for anyone; especially someone who had high levels of stress like Virgil. But despite his efforts, the whole process only left craving a fix and staring at the ball of gum on his desk that “still had some nic left in it.”

In fact, that was where Virgil found himself at that very moment. Staring at that damn ball of white goop with a cigarette in one hand and a pencil in the other. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t ashamed. He’d be lying if he said he was glad it was too cold to open the window.

He’d also be lying if he said he wasn’t relieved his health paper topic was the “importance of mental illness awareness” and not “the dangers of smoking” like some of the other students had been assigned. Despite the topic his paper remained blank. The willpower needed to write the essay seemed like too much to muster especially because he had decided to write it before school.

He heard footsteps coming from down the hall and panic flooded his brain as he dived for the ashtray. He just managed to put the light out and throw a towel over it when the door creaked open. He straightened up (hahahahahaha) quickly and hunched over his desk pretending to write as the cause of his panic entered the room. When he looked up he only saw Roman.

“Oh. it’s just you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Dr. Doom?”

Virgil rolled his eyes and went back to staring at the empty sheet of paper on his desk. I guess If he had wanted to be an expert in deception he should of actually written something when Roman came in, instead of just miming writing his name 50 times.

Roman leaned against the door frame and cleared his throat aiming to get Virgil’s eye. It was to no avail, though, as he just picked up his pencil and jotted down a sentence. Finally Roman just turned to leave and off handedly mentioned that breakfast was ready.

Virgil packed up his backpack and headed down stairs for breakfast.

***

If you move around as much as Virgil does, you’d start to notice a pattern in things. Yes, some families were peppy, sitting there families down for a pleasant dinner of pot roast, and some families weren’t much of anything, leaving cans of soup in the cupboards, but they were all somehow cardboard cut out. Like you were watching your life unfold on tv.

It was somewhat surreal really; how some people were like stereotypes, like carbon copies with an upgrade. This is how it was with Patton, but on steroids. No, he wasn’t a family dinner person. He was a family  _everything_ person. Yes Patton was a breakfast lunch and dinner, movie night, bedtime routine, matching pajamas, cookies in a cookie jar, photo albums on the shelf, chore chart, calendar on the fridge, family man through and though.

This is why Virgil found himself pushing scrambled eggs around his plate as Roman spoke like a tape on fast forward. He couldn’t help but notice the piece of chive stuck in between Roman’s teeth. It was taunting him really; it was like a green blur or… no it was really like a smudge of green paint, as if a child was finger painting and decided to have some self awareness and pick the damn chive out of their teeth.

He felt a light tap on his hand and flinched. “Virgil Dea-”

“Earth to Verge!” Roman was waving a hand in front of Virgil’s face, scowling.

The whole process of trying to get Virgil’s attention only succeeded in annoying him. The tone that came out of Princy’s mouth was not a nice one and Virgil hated to be touched. He decided not to mention the chive;  _he’ll notice it eventually._

Virgil opened his mouth to speak and then thought better of it. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms instead, his lips forming a straight line, and his eyes glued to his knees

Patton shot a glare at Roman (well as close as he could come). “Virgil sweetie aren’t you going to eat anything. You’ve been pushing eggs around you’re plate all morning.”

He grunted in reply, not looking up.

Roman sighed “You know you can afford it right?” He plopped his chin in his hands and checked his nails. “You’re basically skin and bones”

“Roman!” Patton had raised his voice a bit and Virgil finlay looked up. “Say something nice or nothing at all. What did Virgil ever do to deserve your judgement?”

Roman’s face was full of shock and tension was heavy in the air. You could tell Roman was someone used to being told he could do no wrong. His face melted to shock into guilt, but he kept his silence. The tension in the air was as thick as a brick

Virgil broke the thention by  shoving a fork full of eggs into his mouth and chugging the glass of orange juice Patton had set out for him. Then he grabbed his plate as he stood, mumbling, “Thanks for breakfast Patton.”

Patton gave a small smile. “It’s no problem hun”

Virgil headed to the sink and rinsed off the plate and then placed it in the dishwasher. Patton’s smile seemed to become genuine in an instant when he saw the gesture and he quickly motioned for Roman to follow suit.

Roman though was slightly dazed it seemed. He had completely missed the motion to complete the choor and was just staring at Virgil who was beginning to pack himself a lunch. When Patton cleared his throat he caught the hint and slowly picked up his plate, eyes still somewhat glued to the back of Virgil’s head

As Roman washed off his plate Virgil began to pull out another paper bag and then went on to cut off the crusts of 2 sandwiches. “You really don’t need to pack me a lunch.” Roman said.

Without even looking up from the task at hand Virgil just  shrugged “It’s just easier this way, I guess. Might as well make you a lunch if I’m making my own” He rolled his eyes “You probably couldn’t even muster up the brains to make a decent lunch anyway.

Prince looked affronted (and slightly surprised Virgil had said more than the bare minimum) , and placed a hand dramatically on his chest in offence “I so could! And I could make a better sack lunch than you any day of the week.” he moved his hand to his hip then and tried to conjure an excuse for his lack of action “I just… I just didn’t do it  because Patton usually does!”

There was a beat of silence and an expression Roman couldn’t read popped up on Virgil’s face for a split second. Virgil finally spoke saying “Don’t you think Patton needs a break? He made breakfast.” He started putting pretzel sticks in tiny ziplock bags and then popped them in the lunch sack when he had completed the task

“I guess you’re right. I-uh” he sighed “nevermind”

Guilt flooded Roman’s conscience as he realised he never really helped out his Dad. Patton did almost everything around the house alone because Logan was rarely there and was often away on business. This left Patton more or less a single parent in some senses of the word.

Patton walked in the kitchen and almost squealed when he saw the emo packing lunches. “Aww! Thanks for helping out, kiddo!” he went over to Virgil and carefully offered Virgil a hug. Virgil looked him up and down confused and then englightent flooded his face. He timidly hugged Patton and then grabbed a nap sack, tossing it to Roman.

“I should go get ready” Virgil said, getting ready to walk out of the kitchen.

“Hay! Wait you two. Hold your horses!” Patton chuckled lightly “You’re father is coming home tonight and I want you two to head back here right after Roman’s play practice!”

“Got it.” Roman said flippantly. Virgil only nodded and tuned to leave.

They both walked up the stairs to get ready for school.

***

The ride to school was awkward to say the least. Virgil had only been staying with the Sanders family for about a week and hadn’t really done or even said much since arriving. Roman had come to get used to Virgil pulling on his headphones right when they got in the car.

It wasn’t as if it bothered him; Roman was happy to drive in silence or blast musical soundtracks. The only thing that even slightly got under Roman’s skin was the tapping. Virgil taped his foot or his fingers to the beat of whatever song he was listening too and it could drive Roman mad at times.

Today though, was different. Yes, Virgil hopped in the passenger seat and slid on his headphones, but he didn’t pull his blocky ipod out of his pocket like he usually did. Instead he just leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes.

Roman turned the dial on the radio and searched for a good song. “Wait” (Beatles) came on and Roman dropped his hand, satisfied with the tune. He backed out of the drive.

It wasn’t until Roman was down the street when the tapping started. Something was different though. It wasn’t the tapping that was different, no, it was something he couldn’t put his finger on (no pun intended). Then it hit him. Virgil was tapping to the song on the radio and not the beat of his own music! Virgil wasn’t really listening to anything on his headphones at all.

That was when Roman began to sing. It was quiet at first; his voice sweet as honey and singing too pretty to keep up with the fast(ish) pace of the song. But Roman sang anyway, a beat behind and with too much finesse, but beautiful nonetheless. . It was really quite lovely though and Roman could tell Virgil thought so because he was staring at his boots and not out the window.

Suddenly his fingers stopped tapping and he turned to look back out the window. Just like that the moment was over; the only remembrance of the moment being a slight blush on Virgil’s face and the song fading out. The radio dj blabbered on about the history of the beatles claiming  “Nowhere Man” (also beatles) the last song of “The Beatles Power Hour on 102.5 in the morning.”

Virgil pulled out his chunky ipod and spun the wheel a bit. He hit play and leaned back in his seat, eyes closed once again. His foot taped to a different beat and Roman pushed down the urge to ask Virgil what he was listening too.

They pulled into school just in time for first bell and parted ways.

***

Even though Patton had set him up with a phone when he moved in, Virgil hadn’t really bothered to learn how to use it. It wasn’t really  _his_ phone so why should he bother, yeah?

The only thing slightly interesting about the phone was that he could load music onto it. He didn’t though, that was what he had his ipod for. Plus it would just cause more trouble for the Sanders when they had to wipe his phone. If he just kept it empty there would be no need when he inevitably moved out.

What Virgil did do however, was load more songs onto his brick. That was always the one thing he kept from house to house: music. Most of the houses Virgil lived in had computers with an itunes jam packed with songs. If not they had records or cassettes or cds that Virgil could transfer onto the computer and put on his ipod, regardless of the families media choices.

It was only last night that Virgil had gotten a chance to jack some songs from the Sanders computer. Though most of it was showtunes and podcasts, he  _had_ found some gems.

Virgil bopped his head as he trudged through the hall. Tennis’ (band) “Fields of Blue” flooded his ears and filled him with a new calm. He silently thanked Roman, Patton, Logan, whoever for blessing him with the song and walked into first period.

_Maybe today is going to be a good day._

***

Class was as boring as ever, only this time Virgil had to force himself to pay attention. He couldn’t just take a nap or listen to music. No, he found he had to take some notes to succeed, maybe even study. It didn’t make things any easier when his phone buzzed in his pocket.

_**New Number 10:43am:**  Heyyyyyy J.Delightful. Play practice was canceled. Wanna do something after school instead??_

Virgil dissected that for a second. It was obviously Roman texting him and he quickly added in the number; the mystery of it all was why. Why would Roman want to hang out with him? He had wanted nothing to do with him before really. Roman had seemed to think of him as all his other “siblings” in his previous homes: as a passing traveler.  

He decided that Roman just didn’t have plans because of the practice cancellations and really just needed something to do, regardless of who his company was. So he typed a reply that said as such.

_**Virgil 10:45am:**  dont call me that and i dont care_

The response was almost immediate.

_**Princy 10:45am:**  Come oonnnnnn Verge, live a little! Don’t you want to go on an adventure!!_

He thought about that for a second and landed on no. Why would he want to go out of his comfort zone when he had just gotten used to his new routine? Why mess with the balance of things, yeah?

_**Virgil 10:47am:**  not particularly_

Virgil had just picked up his pencil when his phone vibrated again. He had hoped his refusal would be the end of the conversation. He should of known better

_**Princy 10:48am:**  ;n;_

Virgil was puzzled at first and then realised it was supposed to represent crying. He rolled his eyes, ignored the text, and went back to taking notes (or in reality doodling in the margins of his notes).  _Ridiculous_

***

Roman was not paying attention, not in the slightest. What he was doing was drawing Virgil at the bottom of his page.

He had started with the philtrum and then moved to the cupids bow. Virgil had such full lips; they were luchous and inviting and daydream worthy, turely. It was not surprising with how much Roman had found himself staring at Virgil’s lips that he could draw them from memory. It was easy for him to recall an image and somehow easier to draw it into fruition.

He sighed and dropped his pencil, halfway through an eye. It didn’t do Virgil justice really. It didn’t even distract him from the fact that 5 minutes had gone by since he had texted Virgil and there was still no reply.

Roman tapped on his thigh and heard the plap plap plap of his finger hitting the surface. His patience had run out and he grabbed his phone. He began to type out a message when he heard someone clear their throat.

He looked up to see his teacher frown and motion to his notes. Roman gave a million watt smile and shoved his phone under his leg. She moved past his desk and he proceeded to text Virgil back.

_**Princy 10:55am:**  Ah! gtg or Ms. Grouch is gunna take away my phone._

_**Princy 10:55am:**  Meet me in the auditorium at lunch Vergie. Cya then hot topic_

The response came quite quickly and was so worth the earlier wait.

_**Virgil 10:57am:**  did you just call me hot?_

Roman smiled, tempted to type back a “ _yes ;_ )” but a reply came back before he could.

_**Virgil 10:57am:**  ugh see you then i guess_

***

Virgil put his phone back in his pocket and looked up just in time to see his teacher passing back there tests. He hadn’t really been able to study much and wasn’t expecting to get an A but the big red F on the top of his paper was somewhat alarming.

He took a deep breath and slid his test into his backpack. He sighed, pulled it over his soldier, and walked out of the room into the crowded hallway. Finding the auditorium was going to be a nightmare, as if getting to his locker wasn’t trouble enough.

He tried to think all good things. Think about how it wasn’t his fault that he failed the test.

_Patton will be so disappointed_.

Think about how he was new and these things were to be expected as he got used to new classes.

_He’ll probably send him to a group home. You really should of done better._

How could he be expected to know the chapter if he had only been in class for three days before the test?

_That’s no excuse! If you weren’t such a reck you could’ve gotten notes from someone else you idiot._

Virgil sighed and started to turn the combination into the lock on his locker. It was turning out to be to hard to be positive, so Virgil decided to switch tactics. Instead of trying to think good thoughts, Virgil focuses on Roman’s last text. The texting had been confusing for Virgil for a myriad of reasons.

First of all, Virgil wasn’t used to texting in general, no less lingo and smiley faces and all that. He didn’t even know how to put a capital letter! Even the question mark had taken a while to find.

Secondly, it seemed that Roman had been flirting with him and that couldn’t be right. Roman was gorgeous, if not a bit of a snob, but gorgeous nonetheless. In the short time Virgil had been at this school, he had quickly learned there was a vast lgbtq+ community. With all of those choices why pick Virgil. If Roman was just looking for a convenient hook up (seeing that they lived in the same house) he would have to look elsewhere; Virgil was not a piece of meat.

The last thing about the whole situation that dazed Virgil was that he was maybe… kind of… into it? Virgil didn’t do relationships. He didn’t do hook ups. He didn’t even do make out sessions. So why was Roman so appealing to him. It wasn’t just looks; no Virgil had seen attractive people without wanting something more many times before. So why had Roman flipped a switch for him? Why was Roman turning him into a lovesick puppy?

He didn’t have time to think about it (or he tried not to think about it) as he retrieved his lunch from his locker and finally found his way to the auditorium. The room was bigger than he expected. It wasn’t huge; there were a lot of seats, but it was nothing compared to a jam packed school gymnasium. It was more cosy than that and a heck of alot darker.

Virgil had ended up coming in from the back of the auditorium and saw Roman waving from the stage. He was sitting on the edge of it and was popping grapes into his mouth. Virgil approached the stage and quite ungracefully hoisted himself up. Roman chuckled behind his hand, to Virgil’s chagrin and Virgil straightened up (lol). After his escapate of trying to flop onto the stage like dying fish, he flicked Roman off and brought his legs up to sit cross-legged.

Roman spoke first after a brief silence. “So… uh… how’s your day been?”

Virgil gave him a look at hearing that.  _Did he really ask me here to make chit chat?_

Virgil decided on rolling his eyes and opening his lunch sack. “What do you think? My day’s been a bed full a’ damn roses” Virgil spat more than said.

Roman was stunned for a second and looked down at his shoes momentary. Then in a hushed tone he said, “You know that act doesn’t work on me anymore. Not after this morning, anyways.”

“What doesn’t work?” If Virgil didn’t know better he could swear he felt a sweat breaking out.  _Does he know about my feelings for him?_

Roman mulled over the question and popped a grape into his mouth. He stuffed the empty baggie back into his lunch sack and sighed. “The  _act_  Virgil. Ya know, the whole I’ _m a badass_  thing.” Roman let out a short laugh. “I don’t buy it. Not after how nice you were to Patton this morning.”

It was Virgil’s turn to look down, but this time it was to hide his… embarrassment, I suppose. “How do you know I wasn’t just sucking up.” he mumbled.

Roman motioned dramatically to himself with a flourish. “I’m an actor Virgil! I can tell when people are being genuine. You couldn’t act so naturally if you were sucking up! You’re an amature thesbian at the very most.”

Virgil crossed his arms and tried not to laugh. He ended up failing though and laughed so hard he was clutching his side. Roman looked on slightly bewildered and opened his mouth to say something. Before he could Virgil ended up gasping out something along the lines of “You’re off your rocker if you think I can’t act Princy! Off. Your. Rocker.”

In all honesty, Princy had no clue what that meant or how to reply to such a statement. Perhaps Virgil had some sort of mysterious acting past where he used to be part of a traveling acting troupe. Roman waved away the thought, as it was ridiculous, and continued to look dumbfounded at the emo beside him.

Virgil had gone from clutching his side to actually falling on it. In layman’s terms, Virgil was rolling on the floor laughing. When he finally got a hold of himself and sat up, Roman had still not thought of an appropriate things to say pertaining to his previous comments. That caused him to say as much.

“And why is me thinking acting is not your forte so hilarious?” Roman said in a tone full of false confidence.

Virgil let at a last small chuckle and took a deep breath of contentment. “Ah thanks for the laugh, Princy. I think I really needed that.”

Roman held up a finger weekly “Uh, you still didn’t answer my question.”

Virgil replied by shoving the remains of his lunch into his backpack and sliding off the edge of the stage. “I don’t think I need too. You either get it or you don’t” Virgil said, walking backwards towards the door.

It was Roman’s turn to scramble as he basically leaped off the stage. Virgil just barely finished at the thump of Roman’s feet hitting the ground and then turned toward the door. Roman chased after him as he approached the door and grabbed his wrist; somehow even though the jog was short Roman was still panting.

“Uh… did you need something Roman or are you just going to hang on to my wrist and make me late to class” Virgil’s gaze went from Roman’s hold and then he met his eyes once again.

Roman realised the predicament he was in and let go quickly, as if he had been touching a hot stove. “I- I uh I suppose I was just wondering where we should go after school.”

Virgil grinned so wide that Roman’s heart nearly skipped a beat. “So that’s still on, yeah?” Virgil said, pausing to pull something out of his pocket. “As I said I don’t particularly care where we go. You pick the place and I’ll pick the music” He said, waving the brick ipod.

Virgil turned to walk out of the autorum and plugged in his headphones as he went, leaving Roman standing there dumbfounded once again. As Virgil left the room the bell rang and Roman realised at this rate he would barely have time to get to his next class.

As he grabbed his stuff from off the stage Roman became conscious of the fact that a smile had grown on his face; it was the kind of smile he couldn’t fake; the kind that wouldn’t go away easily. At that moment he couldn’t help but think about how he… well about how he had a date.

***

The rest of the school day went by in a blur for Roman, but Virgil wasn’t so lucky. You see, Virgil usually had a smoke break during lunch with all the other addicts, but today he had been… preoccupied. Somehow it was worth it though. (At least it was worth it when he looked back on it.)

When the final bell rang, Virgil almost forgot to grab his books; it’s not like they had been a priority for him in the past and old habits die hard. Still he managed to get into his locker and grab his books before nearly running outside.

Once he was outside he grabbed his pack of parliaments and went at it. The ritual was truly soothing for him. There was something cathartic about it somehow; something comforting about the routine of leaning against the brick wall, lighting up and taking a nice long drag. He always had felt that was a strange reaction to smoking. Shouldn’t he be more anxious doing it? Shouldn’t he be thinking about being caught by a teacher or being judged by other students?

Speaking of being judged, Roman was walking around the corner and giving him a look of disapproval. If he hadn’t gotten that look a thousand times from a thousand different people he might of put the light out; he had though, many times, so it was hard to be phased by the sink eye.

“Aren’t you afraid you’re going to get caught? Or, ya know, die of lung cancer?” Roman said, look of slight disdain still on his face.

Virgil took at nice long drag and then blew the smoke in Roman’s direction. “Not partially”

Roman jumped back as if the smoke would infect him on the spot.

“It’s just smoke Roman” Virgil said, rolling his eyes.

“Nope! I’m not even going to risk it. My father taught me about second hand smoke and im not about to get emphysema!”

“Geez Princy. You’re such a daddy’s boy!” Virgil taunted. “You always listen to everything Patton tells you?”

Roman crossed his arms and sighed, annoyed. “For your information,  _Virgil_. It was Logan who taught me of the dangers of cigarettes, not Patton.”

Virgil flick the bud of his cigarette to the side and ground it out with his foot; they began to walk towards the parking lot. “Ah the mysterious Logan, I’ve been hearing so little about.” Virgil rolled his eyes.

“You know it’s kinda weird you call my parents by their first names” Roman adjusted the strap of his backpack, looking for his keys.

“What would you have me call them?” Virgil scoffed. “You want me to call them Dad and Pa, like we’re all some sort of a big happy family. Fat chance!”

Roman finally found the keys as they approached the car and clicked the button. (Beep! Beep!) “Yeah, I guess that would be way weirder. You’re probably right on that one” Roman chucked.

Virgil frowned in reply. It was annoying how Roman always brushed stuff like that off. Virgil was so obviously being a huge prick to him and what did Roman do? Roman just laughed it off like he enjoyed Virgil’s harsh attitude. Like they had some sort of witty banter.

Virgil opened the car door, slid into his seat carefully, and bucked up. Truthfully, the car was much nicer than he was used too. Logan must make big bucks to afford such a car and not have the need for Patton to work. The careful nature he treated the car with was one of the reasons he was so stunned Roman handed him the cord.

He almost panicked right then and there. The ipod was so old and worn it would probably break the sound system if he dared to plug it in. Plus he had no idea how to connect such a relic to the car radio anyway.

Roman was fiddling with the controls on the car when he realised Virgil was frozen in place. He just sat there, the aux cord carefully placed between his fingers and the ipod in the other.  _Oh shit, did I do something wrong? Maybe the mp3 is just for show_

“Oh,uh!  You don’t have to play music if you don’t want too.” Roman said, smiling apologetically. “I just thought… you know? Since you’re always listening to music you might like to dj”

Virgil seemed to snap out of a trance at hearing him speak. “No, no. It could be fun to uh… ‘dj?’” Virgil looked embarrassed then and was slow to speak. “I just, uh, plug this in here?” Virgil said motioning to the headphone port.

“You’ve ne-” Roman stopped that sentence in its tracks releasing it might be rude. He started again “Uh yeah. That’s right”

“Um…okay thanks” Virgil mumbled in reply.

Roman started backing out of the parking spot and with a final “Let’s get this party started” from Roman, they were off.

***

Virgil couldn’t say he was surprised when they pulled into the parking lot of a park. It was just like Roman to take Virgil for a walk. In actuality, there was probably some sort of quest along the way, but Virgil decided to forget that thought right as he thought it. Why add excess stress to this situation, yeah?

Roman turned off the engine and turned to Virgil. His smile was so big Virgil was surprised it didn’t just stretch right off his face. “Surprise!”

“Oh great. You’ve taken me to the forest. That’s not creepy at all.” Virgil deadpanned.

“Haven’t you seen into the woods Vergie!” Roman nearly sang. “It’s romantic!”

Virgil blushed furiously at that and then tossed that thought aside. _He probably didn’t mean it that way, stupid._

“Didn’t the baker’s wife die when she went into the woods” Virgil said, trying to play down how flustered he was. “Doesn’t sound so romantic to me.”

“Oh shut up Brad Pitiful!” Roman said. “Let’s get going already!”

“Geez Princy, what’s with you and insulting nicknames?”

***

Roman had always liked this park. Even as a kid he was more fascinated with the twists and turns of the trails rather than the playground equipment. He thought back fondly on the memory  of his father (Logan) chasing him around the park trying to make sure he didn’t get lost and his dad (Patton) just walking calmly along the path laughing at his husbands efforts.

“ _Just let the boy have fun, Lo! He won’t get too lost_ ”

Roman would of laughed at the memory if he didn’t miss his father so much. He really missed the times they had together when he was young. He missed the movie nights and beach days. He misses the pajama parties and the pillow forts. He missed seeing his parents happy together.

That was all before his father’s big break, though; before he had to travel so much for work. Roman knew it took a toll on his dad. Patton had to stay in that big house all alone all day. He had to stay home and try to be his perky happy self as he missed his husband to pieces. Roman wished he could do more, truly. He had a feeling he hadn’t been the best son to his dad lately.

Roman snapped out of his thoughts when Virgil suddenly stopped in his tracks, his feet scraping against the gravel path. “What?”

Virgil sushed the prince and then it was his turn to grab Roman’s wrist, bringing him to a halt. Virgil brought his hand up and pointed to something in the nearby shrubbery. “Look” Virgil whispered. “It’s a blue jay.”

A grin burst onto Roman’s face as he gazed upon the beautiful creature, but before he could say anything he saw Virgil taking something out of his pocket. He was stunned to see that Virgil had sunflower seeds in his pocket and was in the process of pouring some into his left palm.

“How do you know they even eat those?” Roman whispered as Virgil approached the branch the bird was perched on.

“I just do; now sush, Roman” Virgil said, offering his palm out to the bird.

Surprisingly the bird didn’t flee, but as calmly as a city pigeon would, hopped into Virgil’s open palm and started eating the offered seed. That was when Roman knew Virgil was the one. That was when things moved from a tiny crush to a tidal wave of feelings. That was when Roman longed to reach out and caress Virgil’s face. To rub gentle circles into Virgil’s palm and see him smile. That was when Roman felt an almost unavoidable need to kiss him.

But, just as fast as the moment appeared, it disappeared and the bird flew away contented with it’s free dinner. As Virgil turned around to face Roman once again, his face was lit up with a glee that could almost only be found in a child. His face fell momentarily though as he saw Roman, though, as if he was concerned about somethings.

“W-why are you l-looking at me like that?” Virgil stuttered, his face dusting pink.

It was Roman’s turn to become giddy, as he prepared to answer the question put before him. “It just reminds me of that song.” Roman said, his words being returned with only a confused expression. “You know: Why do birds suddenly appear, everytime you are near? Just like me they long to be close to you~”  Roman serenaded.

Virgil was full on red now as Roman continued to sing in an increasingly sweet tone. “I-well…Um” Virgil fidgeted with his hands. “I don’t think I-I’ve…”

“Why do stars fall down from the sky~ Everytime you walk by~  Just like me they long to be close to you~”

Roman was all out sleeping beautying it as he sang. Twirling around, like some sort of loon. Virgil had truly no idea how to react, but somehow he felt as if he should be flattered. Maybe, he was. It was like there was some sort of magnet drawing him to Roman. Maybe it had always been there and Virgil just hadn’t been paying attention.

Roman was close now, so close Virgil could reach out and touch him if he so wished. It was Roman, though, who made the first move, so to say. He reached out and wiped his thumb against the underneath of Virgil’s eye lightly.

“You had an eyelash” Roman whispered almost inaudibly. “Make a wish”

When Virgil spoke it was so quiet you nearly couldn’t hear him; it was almost as if he had mouthed the words instead of speaking them aloud. “okay”

He closed his eyes for a moment and Roman could almost see the gears turning in that brain of his. And then Virgil blew the eyelash off of Roman’s thumb. As innocent as the gesture was, it made Roman shiver from the intimacy of it all.

All Roman wanted to do was lean in and kiss him then, but he knew he shouldn’t and his fears stopped him. A little thing in the back of his mind told him of all the terrible outcomes a kiss could result in. So, instead he just grabbed Virgil by the hand and lead him away to a place he knew only Virgil could appreciate properly.

***

“Virgil you know I like you right” the words echoed in his head as Roman said them. He hadn’t realised how much courage it would take to say them.

Virgil looked stunned at first, but all the strife came free from his face as he realised the implications of the sentence. “I-I uh I like you too, Roman.” Virgil said shyly (,face red as a cherry tomato.)  
  


Roman’s head snapped up and he looked at Virgil rather than the stream. They were sitting on the edge of a railless bridge; they had both been looking down into the water. Every once in awhile Virgil would toss a pebble into the placid water and watch the ripples ensue. The silence preceding the confession had been an enjoyable one, but the look on Roman’s face learning his feelings were returned was simply priceless.

“Really?”

Virgil giggled at that (,yes  _actually_ giggled.) “How could anyone not like a prince charming like you Roman. You’re  _really_  a catch.” Virgil said sarcastically.

Roman nudged him with his shoulder. “You know I don’t fall for that bad boy attitude, Verge.” Roman said. “And it really isn’t becoming.”

“Don’t really have to worry about being becoming now, do I? Someone already has a crush on me”  Virgil said, nudging him right back.

Roman laughed slightly and then they returned to silence. Virgil dropped a handful of pebbles into the water and watched all of them make their impact. They all that a different effect really, some launched water into the air and others just sunk to the bottom. No matter what though, they all caused a ripple.

“So, Why did you want to bring me here, Roman?” Virgil said. “I think I at least know you well enough to know that you wouldn’t of picked  _this_  park and  _this_ bridge if it wasn’t important to you in some way.”

Roman fiddled with his hands, running his thumb over his palm repeatedly. “My dads used to bring me here when I was little.” Roman sighed. “They had a tradition of kissing right when they got to the middle of the bridge and afterwards my dad would scoop me up in his arms and spin me around. I guess I wanted well… whatever” Roman motioned between them”  _this_  is to start in a place like this.”

Virgil laid his hand on top of Roman’s and looked into his eyes with a shy smile. “Your parents really have something special don’t they?”

Roman looked back down at the water as it lazily flowed down stream. “I used to think that, but now I’m not too sure.”

“I guess I wouldn’t be the best person to reassure you” Virgil sighed. “I haven’t even met Logan yet.”

Roman buried his head in his hands. “I wouldn’t know what to do if they didn’t last” He said looking up. “They’ve always been my idea of a perfect relationship, Virgil. If they split up, where does that leave me?”

“From what I know of Patton, he doesn’t give up easily. He doesn’t seem like the kind of person who would give up on someone he loved.” Virgil said as he started to rub soothing circles into Roman’s palm.

“I hope you’re right”

“Me too”

***

Virgil was the first to stand after their conversation and extended his hand towards Roman to help him up. “How about we head home?”

Roman accepted the hand and rose to his feet. “And what would we get up to there?” He said with a wink.

Virgil rolled his eyes in reply. “You’re such a pervert aren’t you, Roman?”

He let out a short laugh; “Maybe you’re the pervert for thinking I was even suggesting such a thing!”

Virgil got up on his toes, face to face with Roman, and poked his chest “I do believe you were suggesting something, Prince Charming.”

“Ah, so you think I’m charming?”

“Oh shut up, Princy! Let’s go home.”

They walked back to the car hand in hand; lost in their own world the whole way back.

***

It seemed just as soon as Virgil started to feel okay, the world would come crashing down on him and remind him how small he really was. This is how he felt when he entered the house hand in hand with Roman only to hear sobbing coming from the other room. He immediately let go of Roman’s hand and ran into the other room, leaving him behind frozen in shock.

When he entered the living room Virgil saw something he hoped he would never see. Patton was sobbing on the couch, surrounded by tissues hugging his knees to his chest. Virgil ran over to him nearly hitting the coffee table and sat down on the couch. He moved his hand to Patton’s back and started patting. It was the only thing he could think to do as his brain assessed the situation.

When Roman entered the room, he was just as dismayed as Virgil was. Though he had seen it before, it was a rare event to see his Dad crying. In face, the few times he had seen Patton crying it was mostly due to happyness or pride. To say it was a shock to his system to seeing such a thing would be an understatement to say the least. It broke Roman’s heart.

“Oh my god! Uh, Dad why are you crying? What’s wrong?” Roman nearly yelled. His body had turned to a state near panic and he ran over to his Dad’s side.

Patton tried to compose himself, wiping his face with the sleeve of his sweater. He took a shaky breath and tried in vain to smile. “It it’s n-nothing boys, really.” Patton sniffed. “I- um, well your father has just informed me that he won’t be coming home after all.”

“What? Dad I-” Roman shut his mouth soon after releasing Patton wasn’t done talking.

“M-maybe not for a while.” Patton said, promptly continuing to sob into his knees.  

Virgil didn’t know what to do. He felt like an outsider; like he shouldn’t be watching this. Really, he felt like an intruder on such an intimate moment. At least he felt like that until, Patton grabbed his hand and brought Roman into a half embrace. When that happened, for the first time, Virgil felt like he was a part of something bigger than himself. Like maybe he could be apart of a family.

They stayed like that for a while. Virgil and Roman comforting their dad to the best of their abilities and Patton letting a wall down for the first time in a long time. For truly, no one knew better than Patton how hard it was to keep a long distance marriage going. What made matters worse was the support he had to give to something he despised.

Yes, Patton knew just how terrible it was because he loved his husband more than anyone in the world. He gave his emotion and trust and love to Logan, but could hardly reap the benefits; he couldn’t even give him a goodnight kiss. Perhaps he was selfish for wanting his husband home instead of living out his dreams. That was something that kept him up at night: the feeling of selfishness.

Still now with his son, well sons now, by his side for the first time in a long time he felt it was all going to be okay. And with a wave of “It’s going to be okay” washing over him, Patton gained a new found peace. He wiped his eyes one last time, blew his nose, and brought both his boys in for a real group hug.

“Well boys, now that I feel a bit better about well… things, I think it’s time that I take a well deserved nap.” Patton said, with a contented sigh. “How about you two go work on your homework.”

“Alright, Patton. We’ll go do that.” Virgil said, melancholy smile still on his face.

Patton didn’t say anything to that, but you could see new tears forming in his eyes. Except this time they were not tears of frustration and despair, but tears of joy. Tears caused from knowing even in the hard times he had a support system. And with that reassurance Patton trudged up the stairs and flopped into bed.

***

“I guess, we should go do our homework then?” Roman said hesitantly. “It doesn’t really feel appropriate if I’m being honest. Plus it’s a Friday”

Virgil smiled and clapped Roman on the back. “Don’t worry princy I’ve got a much better plan. We’ve got a proud Papa to cheer up this weekend.”

And after an hour or so of talking and list making and well, maybe a few other things, the plan was formed. Patton was about to be in for the weekend of his life.

***

It was strange for Patton not to wake up to an alarm. Usually when he woke up naturally, he would wake up in a panic. This time though, was much more pleasant; after all it’s hard to be panicked when you wake up to the smell of pancakes.

As Patton walked the down stairs and wiped the sleep out of his eyes, he felt as if he should get his eyes checked. For what he saw before him was a rarity. In the kitchen, Roman and Virgil were dancing around the kitchen to The Cardigans (band) and flipping pancakes on the griddle.

What made things more surprising was they weren’t embarrassed about it in the slightest. When they noticed Patton entering the kitchen, they only invited him to join the dance party.

Patton was siverly out of breath by the time “lovefool” (Cardigan’s song)  was over, and fell onto a breakfast bar stool with a thup.

“Come on old man! You can’t dance for more than one song?” Roman taunted.

“Contrary to my looks, I’m not as young as I used to be” Patton replied with a laugh.

“We better get your strength up then” Virgil said with a smile as he placed a comically large stack of pancakes in front of Patton.

Patton only gave the pair a suspicious look and took a slow bite of pancake in reply. “Are you two trying to bribe me for something?” Patton said, his mouth full.

Virgil only sat down next to him with his own plate of breakfast and shrugged, leaving Roman to do all the talkin. “Well we decided that today is your day, Dad” Roman said trying to sound nonchalant. “We had a few things planned, but it’s up to you what we actually end up doing.”

Patton melted.( _Awww My kids are too sweet to me!_ ) “Kiddos, you didn’t have to do that for lil’ old me! I’m fine really; you don’t have to spend your whole day on me”

“That’s the point, Patton. We  _want_  to spend our day with you!” Virgil said, shoveling another bite of pancake into his mouth. “Duhh”

“Yeah Dad! You’re awesome and at least I’ve been realising I need to spend more time with you”  
  


Virgil smiled nervously and turned towards Patton, chin in hand. “If it makes you feel any better we could say this is too make up for me failing my biology test”  _Better I tell him now than ruin his day later_

“Now, Virgil I would never make you spend time with me as a punishment” Patton said in mock offence.   
  


Virgil froze in place not releasing Patton was messing with him “I - Uh that’s not what I meant! I would nev-”

“Did you try your best?”

“I-What?”

“Did you try your best?” Patton repeated.

Virgil thought about it for a second. “Well… I did study and it can be kind of confusing, but i guess I did.” Virgil said timidly. “Try my best that is!”

Patton rested his hand on Virgil’s shoulder and smiled reassuringly “As long as you try your best, Virgil, I’ll never be anything other than proud of you even if you don’t succeed.”

Tears almost started briming up in Virgil’s eyes as he choked out a reply. Virgil was expecting something much different. Even though he had some very linant foster parents in the past, he had also had some who would have slapped him without a second thought (especially if he did something like fail a test.) “I- thank you.” Virgil choked out.

“Well,” Princy nearly yelled breaking the tension (in his own uh…  _special way_ ). “I’ve set out board games in the living room. So if we’re all done having sappy moments and pancakes, let’s get this Today started!”

Virgil mealy rolled his eyes in reply as Patton squealed in excitement and they all headed towards the living room.

***

If you’ve ever thought playing monopoly was a good idea, think again. It had been a long day of Shoots and Ladders, Nerts, Uno, and Sequence when they finally broke for a lunch of pb and j. It was after that when Patton innocently suggested Monopoly. Long story short, no one won, and the game ended with Roman flipping the board.

It wasn’t untill after the Monopoly catastrophe (a catastrophe in which Virgil only had to excuse himself a few times to t _otally no_ t stress smoke in the bathroom) that Virgil suggested a change of pace. Not even an angered Roman could be adverse to a Disney/Pixar marathon after all. So that’s what they did. They built an extensive pillowfort (yes, it took up almost the whole room), popped some popcorn and settled in.

It was only after Wall-e, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Up and Ratatouille that Patton fell asleep and it was a long road getting there. What made it all worth it (other than how amazing those movies are) was the contented look on Patton’s face in his sleep.

When the credits to Ratatouille stated to roll, and Virgil got up to eject the blue ray player, Patton was shaken awake by Roman. “Oh” Patton yawned. “Is it time for Inside Out?”

Roman let out a quiet laugh and shook his head “I think it’s about time we get you to bed, Dad”

***

At the end of the night Patton was properly tucked into bed and Roman was letting out a contented sigh in the hall. Virgil smiled at him Roman could of died happy in that moment. Yes, Virgil was just like the subject of that old song. He really was a boy that birds and girls followed around. A boy that even the stars fell out of the sky for. A boy with moondust in his hair and starlight in his eyes.

Virgil was so beautiful in that moment. Virgil was beautiful in every moment. From the moment he arrived at his door Roman had knew there was something different about Virgil. It was only when he saw the kindness peeking through that he knew that something was wonderful. That that something was something Roman wanted to be around.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

It was almost like Roman was back in the moment he realised Virgil was the one. Back in that moment where Virgil had said those exact words.

Roman reached up and brushed a loose piece of hair behind Virgil’s ear. “You’re just so beautiful, Virgil.” Roman whispered. “So beautiful I almost can’t put it into words”

Virgil looked down at his socks. You almost ( _almost_ ) couldn’t tell he was blushing in the dim light of the hallway. “You don’t really mean that”

Roman brought a hand under Virgil’s chin and let their eyes meet. “I don’t think I’ve ever meant anything more in my entire life.”

You wouldn’t think it would be Virgil to lean in first, but he did. He shortened the distance between them and brought their lips together. When they did connect it was as if a final puzzle piece had been put into place. It was as if everything was right with the world. It was as if all the contentment and happiness in the world had culminated in that one perfect kiss.

And then it was over, leaving two blushing boys smiling like they’d never smiled before. Roman grabbed Virgil’s hand then and guided him into his room. They fell asleep in eachothers arms .

***  
  


## Epilogue

It was well worth the long flights and layovers and strife when Logan finally entered his home. He lightly set down his suitcase and carefully took off his shoes as he breathed in the sent of home. It smelled the same as he last remembered it. Like Patton’s baking and freshly set out flowers.

He should of been more surprised when he entered the living room to see a pillowfort taking up most of the space, but in all honestly it wasn’t the first time. He just calmly stepped around it stopping to lay his suit jacket over a hole in the blanket ceiling of the fort.

When he finally got to the stairs in the early light of morning, he was careful to avoid the creaky spots and loose boards. As he got to the top he let out the breath he realised he had been holding and started walking towards his son’s room.

As he opened the door he was surprised to see Roman in the arms of a mysterious boy. He almost laughed out loud when he realized it was the foster child Patton had requested.  _Looks like my Roman has really taken a liking to him._

(Maybe Patton had been wearing rose colored glasses when he had described the boy in such a lovely manner, but Logan was happy to see that Roman’s description of “emo nightmare” was spot on.)

It was when Logan got to his own bedroom door that a true happiness flooded his body. It was like a speck of young blood had been injected into his veins. He was filled with both the worry one feels before a first date and the excitement of young love at once. He opened the door to see the love of his life sleeping there.

He leaned across the bed over to Patton and kissed his forehead lightly. Patton only stirred at first, but then it was as if realiszation crashed over him, even in his dreams. His eyes flew open to a most wonderful sight. The sight he had been dreaming about. The sight of the one he cared for most. The sight of Logan.

Patton flew out of bed and just about tackled Logan. They both landed on the floor before Patton began to pepper kisses all over his honeys face. “God I’ve missed you! Don’t you ever let me go so long without you again!”

Patton looked down at him stopping his bombardment of kisses and said, “Promise me!”

Logan wrapped his arms around him and hugged the love of his life with all he had, “I Promise!”

**Author's Note:**

> I'd first like to thank my good friend and beta FanFicLover1998 (ao3) or GuessMyName17 (Tumblr)! I seriously could not have done it with out them. They even wrote like the last 2 lines because I was to tired to write them. They were on it! Helping me every step of the way!!
> 
> This is a fic for @vin5ilim (Tumblr) for @fander-monthly-challenges‘s (Tumblr) secret santa. This took me so long, but it’s almost 10,000 words sooo maybe it’s worth the wait??? (you tell me)
> 
> If you liked the fic comment comment comment (if you can't tell I love comments!) and shoot me a kudos!
> 
> I also take requests in the comments and in my Tumblr ask box. Find me there at http://anniemiku.tumblr.com/


End file.
